WOMAN SPY

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVII, Issue 23818, 20 November 1940, Page 9

WOMAN SPY

PRISON FOR TEN YEARS SCENES AT OLD BAILEY SECRECY PRECAUTIONS LONDON, Nov. 15 Anna Wolkoff, daughter of an admiral in the old Imperial Russian Navy, has been sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment for espionage. Sentenced with her to seven years was Tyler Kent, son of a former United States Consul-General,. and member of an old Virginian family. Their trial at the Old .Bailey was conducted in an atmosphere jaf secrecy reminiscent of.the great spjV/r----trials of the last war. -c. Stolen Documents Anna Wolkoff was sentenced after a trial which began on October 28 for an offence under the Official Secrets Act. In addition to receiving stolen documents, the Court wan tokl. the woman had sent them to Berlin,, from where they were broadcast in an attempt to weaken the British war effort. Only when Mr. Justice Tucker was passing sentence on her i.vas it . revealed that Miss Wolkoff had been convicted of attempting to send a code letter to William Joyce (Lord Haw Haw) in Berlin. The Judge said: "When this conns try is fighting for its very life and' existence, you sent a document to a traitor who broadcasts from Germany for the purpose of weakening the war effort. It would he difficult to imagine a more serious offence." Fierce Anti-Semitism His Honor said lie had taken into consideration that the woman was so obsessed by anti-Semitism that the virus had entered her . system and destroyed her mental fibre. Described on the charge-sheet as a dressmaker, Anna Wolkoff is a brilliant linguist, speaking eight languages. Her father was the Tsar's naval attache in London during the last? war. Though born in Russia, she had become naturalised here. Her father has been interned for some "months. She has dark hair greying at the temples and was dressed in fox furs when called for sentence. She had been shaken and nervous when the jury gave a verdict of guilty after two hours and a half. ' Clerk In Embassy Kent's sentence was. lighter by reason of the fact that documents found in his possession bore no relation to naval or military movements. He was a clerk in the American Embassy in London, and before that with the Embassy at Moscow. He was dismissed bis London post by Mr. Joseph Kennedy, the Ambassador who is now in the United States, and immediately detained on a Home Office order. Kent met Miss Wolkoff when they became members of a London organisation called "The Right Club," the, badge of which is an eagle with a viper, representing Communism, in its beak. 1 This brought them together before the war as pro-Hitler Fascists, and they often exchanged fanatical anti-Semitic views. The woman's family, embittered by exile, kept a tea-room at Kensington. "Not For Money" The Daily Express-says that the pair ' became spies, not for money, but for the violence of their own principles. They believed they could help to defeat the Jews and Communism by,sending to Germany for broadcasting by William Joyce, information that could be used as a weapon against Britain. Kent had used his privileged diplomatic position to pass on confidential documents to Wolkoff, who was to relay them to Germany. During their trial policemen stood guard over the locked cloors of the Old Bailey, secret service men were in court, witnesses were hidden from the public, and thick strips of brown paper were pasted over the glass panels of the doors. Some witnesses were driven to court in cars with drawn blinds, let in at _ the prisoners' entrance, and taken into court through the dock. AUSTRALIAN WORKERS RETURN FROM DOMINION LIABLE FOR CONSCRIPTION By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright SYDNEY, Nov. 19 The Prime Minister, Mr. It. G. Menzies, to-day said that he would consider requests from Australian skilled workers in New Zealand that he should ask the New Zealand Government to allcw them to return to Australia. It was stated at Canberra that some of those who accepted the invitation of the Dominion Government to 'work there were now liable to conscription. It was ascertained later that the Federal Government is not likely to take any action in regard to Austra- a lian workmen in New Zealand. The attitude of the Federal Ministers is that nothing should be done which would be likely to weaken New Zealand's war effort. FIERCE STORMS FRANCE AND SPAIN HEAVY DAMAGE CAUSED (Received November 19, 7.30 p.m.) LONDON, Nov. 18 Fierce storms in France and Spain wrecked many buildings. Communications are broken on the main Riviera railway to Nice. The port and shipyards at La Rochelle are flooded. The storm brought down telegraph, lines and stopped trains in. the Charante district. LESS BUILDING AUSTRALIAN RESTRICTION SYDNEY. Nov. 19 The Federal Treasurer, Mr. A. W. Fadden, announced that persons desiring to erect buildings costing more than £SOOO or carrying out improvements to buildings beyond £SOOO must obtain the consent of tlic Treasurer. He said the Government's aim was to .epiiserve supplies of steel, copper and other vital war materials.